Age of Consent in Portugal

What is the Portugal Age of Consent?

The Age of Consent in Portugal is 14 years old. The age of consent is the minimum age at which an individual is considered legally old enough to consent to participation in sexual activity. Individuals aged 13 or younger in Portugal are not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and such activity may result in prosecution for statutory rape or the equivalent local law.

Portugal statutory rape law is violated when an individual has consensual sexual contact with a person under age 14. However, it is also illegal to perform sexual acts with a minor between 14 and 16 when taking advantage of their inexperience.

Portugal has one territories that have their own local age of consent laws. These territories are listed in the following table:

Portugal does not have a close-in-age exemption. Close in age exemptions, commonly known as "Romeo and Juliet laws" in the United States, are put in place to prevent the prosecution of individuals who engage in consensual sexual activity when both participants are significantly close in age to each other, and one or both partners are below the age of consent.

Because there is no close-in-age exemption in Portugal, it is possible for two individuals both under the age of 14 who willingly engage in intercourse to both be prosecuted for statutory rape, although this is rare. Similarly, no protections are reserved for sexual relations in which one participant is a 13 year old and the second is a 14 or 15 year old.

AgeOfConsent.net is a free public resource site, and cannot offer legal advice. All information provided AS-IS with no warranty of accuracy.
If you are a victim of sexual assault or statutory rape, call the 24-hour RAINN help hotline at 800-656-HOPE